Thesis:
Assisted Suicide should be fully legalized in the United States because it provides people that are unable to live life to the fullest (sick, injured, dying) with a death on their own terms, it is more humane than letting them suffer and die a painful death, and it would free up hospital beds, increase the general quality of care and shorten hospital waiting lists.
Annotated Bibliography
Various Authors. (2012, December 17). Would Financial Motivations Encourage Insurance Companies, Health Care Providers, and Patients to Seek Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide if Those Options Were Legally Available? – Euthanasia – ProCon.org. Retrieved September 10, 2017, from https://euthanasia.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000207
This article outlines the pros and cons of physician assisted suicide from a financial standpoint. It pulls from many different authors and articles to show various opinions on both sides of the matter of Physician Assisted Suicide and how it would be both beneficial and detrimental to Insurance Companies, Health Care Providers, and Patients. While I did not check the credibility of every single author listed in this article, I would say that overall the article is very reputable and credible due to the fact that each pro and con is cited to an external article or medical paper/journal. This source is relevant to the paper because it not only outlines but also explains some of the issues with Physician Assisted Suicide and would help me explain why it would increase the general quality of care in hospitals.
Ross, W. (2016, March 16). Dying Dutch: Euthanasia Spreads Across Europe. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/20/choosing-die-netherlands-euthanasia-debate-306223.html
This article goes through the story of the writer’s’ grandmother that was injured by falling down in her home in Athens, Georgia. During her stay in the hospital the grandmother tried to leave the bed herself and injured herself even more, lengthening her stay. She developed dementia in the hospital and still tried to leave her bed injuring herself each time. She was heavily medicated by the time the writer’s mother made it down. The writer’s mother convinced the doctors to take the grandma off medication. In her unmedicated state she expressed to her daughter that she “didn’t want to do this anymore” due to the fact that she knew all she had left in her life was suffering, and pain. The article also goes on to outline cases in which euthanasia has helped many people end their suffering. It also goes through some stories of euthanasia from a physician’s point of view and how it has effects the people administering the medication to end someone’s life. I deem this article reputable not only because it is published by Newsweek. This article is relevant because it supports two of the main points I am trying to make; providing the sick, injured and suffering a humane way out and providing the patients with a death on their own terms.
Euthanasia. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2017, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/euthanasia
This website defines Euthanasia. It means to mercifully kill a person or animal in order to ease its suffering. I included this as a resource because I plan on using the definition in my paper. It helps the readers understand exactly what I am talking about when I refer to euthanasia. It is a credible source because its a known website to use as a dictionary. This source is relevant because it defines what euthanasia is and minimizes confusion on what is exactly meant when I use the word Euthanasia in my research paper.
Emanuel, E. J. (1997, March 01). Whose Right to Die? Retrieved September 13, 2017, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/03/whose-right-to-die/304641/
This article goes over some of the myths, facts, and differences between physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. It covers many topics such as the history of legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, as well as how it goes against the hippocratic oath. This article is credible because it is posted through The Atlantic. The Atlantic has been around since 1857 and started as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. There are external links to different articles that helped in their writing. This article is relevant to my paper because it provides many insights on euthanasia and its history, myths, and facts either confirming or refuting those myths.
BBC (n.d.). Ethics – Euthanasia: Pro-euthanasia arguments. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/infavour/infavour_1.shtml
This group of mini-articles goes through the different arguments people have for being pro-euthanasia. It explains why people feel that euthanasia is a good thing that should be regulated, as well as some of the counter arguments that go against euthanasia. It describes how the right to live gives a person the right to die in a way they choose because death is a very important part of life. The publisher of this article is BBC which is a world renowned news source that is considered very reputable and credible. This article will be helpful in writing my essay due to the fact that it gives so many supporting reasons to my thesis statement.
Nordqvist, C. (2016, April 08). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/182951.php
This article was extremely informative, it gave many statistics as well as timelines and pros and cons of euthanasia. It explained the different types of euthanasia and how different countries and views affect the administration of each type of euthanasia. Medical news today produces original, timely and authoritative information from respected, credible sources. They cover all areas of health and medicine, including rare diseases and conditions. They achieve coverage across all areas of human health. I would be able to use this source to help me support many if not all of the main points I am writing about.
Dore, M. (2010, May 18). “DEATH WITH DIGNITY”: A RECIPE FOR ELDER ABUSE AND HOMICIDE (ALBEIT NOT BY NAME). Retrieved September 17, 2017, from http://www.margaretdore.com/pdf/Recipe%20for%20Elder%20Abuse.pdf
This medical paper outlines the problems with the laws that have been written about Euthanasia in Washington. It details the phrasing used and how it could be interpreted in a multitude of ways to mean one thing or another. It explains that because these laws are written so poorly that there could be foul play involved when a patient decides to end their life. Margaret Dore, J.D., M.B.A., is a licensed lawyer based out of Seattle, Washington. She has been a practicing lawyer since 1989 with specialties in Elder law and Family law. Shes a member of the American Bar Association Ms. Dore’s writings have appeared in a number of publications, and she periodically gives seminars. This paper would be very useful in justifying the call for law reform and explaining my main point of death on the patient’s own terms, and how that is written into the laws.
Emanuel, E. J., M.D., Ph. D.,, & Battin, M. P., Ph.D. (1998, July 16). What Are the Potential Cost Savings from Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide? — NEJM. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199807163390306#t=article
This article outlines the financial standpoint of euthanasia. It explains how much medical care in the last months of life increases exponentially. It goes on to explain the potential savings that the families and medical providers could expect if Euthanasia was legalized in the United States. The authors of this article are reputable because not only are they both doctors and understand the medical side of Euthanasia (including the costs) they also use many reputable sources in their article such as the American Geriatric Society. This article would help me explain the cost savings to improve quality of care in hospitals as well as the savings the families of the patients would experience due to Euthanasia.
CNN (2017, June 10). Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts. Retrieved September 17, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/us/physician-assisted-suicide-fast-facts/index.html
This Article talks about how in the US it is slowly becoming legal to perform Physician Assisted Suicide or Euthanasia. It talks about how it is now legal in 5 states for physicians only to hand out prescribed drugs to help patients end their life. Even though the regulations vary from state to state the main regulation they all follow is they are only allowed to assist people who are terminally ill and have a prognosis of 6 months or less to live. This is a credible source because the publisher is CNN and they are a world renowned news source that provides accurate and timely news information. This is relevant to my thesis because it talks about how Euthanasia is slowly becoming acceptable in the United States to perform Euthanasia. It provides many facts that would help me explain my main points.
Jaret, P. (2016, April 26). Physician-Assisted Suicide: Is It Ethical? Retrieved September 17, 2017, from
http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-community/health-care-policy/article/physician-assisted-suicide-ethical
This article addresses many ethical questions regarding Euthanasia in the medical world. It explains some of the most prominent issues with Euthanasia in regards to whether or not it would be considered ethical both medically and in general. The publisher of this article is Berkeley Wellness. Berkeley Wellness collaborates with UC Berkeley and relies on the expertise of top researchers at the University of California, as well as other physicians and scientists from around the world. They have been rated number one by U.S. News & World Report, Money Magazine, and the Washington Post for its “brisk,” “reasoned” coverage of health issues. One section of this article in particular would be extremely helpful in explaining why Euthanasia is a good option for patients that suffer from terminal diseases such as ALS or Cancer. It highlights some of the worse symptoms a patient could experience that would justify euthanasia and would be very helpful in supporting two of my main points.